Tour De' Solo

On December 31st, when the rest of the gang was out enjoying fellowship at the California and Oklahoma Tour De' Sobers, I was feeling pretty left-out. With a back out of wack, and 5 psi of oil pressure (in the Cruiser that is) I made the decision that traveling to wheel was pretty much out of the question.

In an attempt to reverse my downer mood, I started out the day by airing up the one leaking beadlocked Swamper on the Cruiser and then proceeded to dust her off for good measure. She looked better, and I started to feel better too. Hmm...wonder if the low oil pressure fixed itself. Let's start it up and see.

Nope, still almost no oil pressure registering at idle. But that rumpety little V-8 sure sounded good...so...I overfilled her with oil and took off down the road with 20 psi on the gauge at throttle. That's when I saw it again, the little creek bottom at the end of the road that I'd noticed a month or so earlier. It sure looked inviting, and pretty close to the ranch digs too if something went wrong (like throwing a rod). I wonder if the kids and wife want to do a little solo-wheelin...?

They did, and the first Tour De' Solo was born. The trail was short, but it was sweet, and the entire family had a blast. Best of all, the engine in the Cruiser survived, and getting out again has given me the little kick in the tail that I've been needing to start getting the rig fixed.

It's going to be a very good year.

Captain Beadlock <><